


Ships Without Sails

by unknowableroom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-09-24
Updated: 2008-01-09
Packaged: 2019-01-19 18:27:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 52
Words: 8,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12415554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknowableroom_archivist/pseuds/unknowableroom_archivist
Summary: Everyone knows how Severus loved Lily, how Lily loved James, how Harry kissed Ginny, how Ron and Hermione danced into the sunset.// A collaborative drabble collection of the most unlikely romances, by WinglessFlight and encrypt.





	1. Foreword

**Author's Note:**

> Note from ChristyCorr, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Unknowable Room](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Unknowable_Room), a Harry Potter archive active from 2005-2016. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after May 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Unknowable Room collection profile](http://www.archiveofourown.org/collections/unknowableroom).

Everyone knows how Severus loved Lily, how Lily loved James, how Harry kissed Ginny, how Ron and Hermione danced into the sunset.

Everyone knows that Amos and Lily could have dated, that Sirius and Remus might have experimented, that Draco and Ginny might've shared the moonlight.

These ships sail proudly. Tall masts, a thousand seamen.

But there are other ships, lost ships, forgotten, dusty ships. Ships never taken from the boatyard. Ships that never see the sea. The improbable, the ridiculous, the disinteresting.

These are the ships without sails. The romances scorned, ignored and swept away.

They have their own qualities, their own stories; they have a right to see the light of day. We shall set them onto the ocean. Sail, ships, sail!

Read on...

&&&

The canon battles and the clichéd stories get tiring, but browsing the lists of ships out there never gets old. This collection is due mainly to the overactive imagination of the fandom as a whole.

This scattering of drabbles is cowritten by Angel (WinglessFlight) and Sara (Insanguinare). We’re having a lot of fun browsing the UnknowableWiki for ships and writing them together. We beseech you to understand that not all of these ships are canon, and we don’t need you to tell us this. Read, and keep your mind open to what could have been.

Feel free to request a ship, but remember that we like to tell the stories that have never seen the light of day.


	2. Sneaks and Evilness

_written by sara (insanguinare); pairing: draco malfoy / marietta edgecombe; alternate title: fifteen_

&&&

Draco Malfoy is fifteen and unapproachable. 

Each action he takes is calculated. He watches the school, safe with his little silver pin, smirking and secure in the power he holds. No one is naïve enough to believe he ever does anything or associates with anyone for reasons other than personal gain.

Even so, she’s standing in the doorway yet, watching.

He doesn’t know why she’s still there. 

_Don’t worry._

It’s meant not as reassurance, but dismissal. It’s mocking.

She bites her lip; asks a favor. 

_Let Cho stay out of trouble. She doesn’t know what she’s doing._

So that’s why she’s there.

He laughs, challenges her. _What will you do for me?_ His words are full of innuendo he himself doesn’t understand; Draco Malfoy is fifteen and still inexperienced, not knowing the possibilities of what he says.  


When she steps forward, his mind races. Maybe she was there to ask a favor. 

Maybe she wasn’t.

She softly presses her lips against his, and he forgets Potter, and Umbridge, and power, and honor, and duty. He forgets the world.

Draco Malfoy is fifteen and human.


	3. Dreaming Klutz

_written by angel (winglessflight); pairing: luna lovegood / nymphadora tonks; alternate title: rapunzel_

&&&

She noticed her on the ground at the Ministry: long, dusty blonde hair matted with the fight. When she gets home she sits in front of the mirror, growing blonde hair longer and longer, like Rapunzel.

She strokes her hair and makes a snap decision.

_Luna,_

_I hope you healed well, you fought a good fight yesterday._

_Nymphadora Tonks_

The letter comes back with simply the word 'Thanks' written on it. She tries again and this elicits more response. Slowly, tantalisingly slowly, the responses grow more open.

_...sometimes feel alienated, at school..._

_...sometimes wish they'd steal someone else's things..._

_...not sure if my father wasn't pulling my leg about Nargles..._

Slowly, a soul more colourful than hers has ever been begins to seep into the pages.

When they finally meet, in a room, in a bar, in a dank part of London, Luna falls asleep into her chest. She strokes the dusty locks.

The next day she confronts Remus, whose sandy hair is reminiscent of a girl she could never forget.


	4. Blood Traitors and Bloody Tyrants

_written by: sara (insanguinare); pairing: andromeda black / lucius malfoy; alternate title: grandeur_

&&&

Cygnus and Druella Black never knew just how crucial a role they played in their daughter’s rebellion.

For days beforehand, she ducked into corridors each time she caught a glimpse of his sandy hair. The question weighed as heavily in her mind as the ring in her pocket. _I know you’re uncertain_ , he had reassured her. _Just tell me when you make up your mind._

Her mind battled with her heart; the world she knew or the world she didn’t? Could she give up the grandeur of the pureblood aristocracy and the adoration of her sisters for this Muggle-born who showed her everything through different eyes?

When her father called her into his study to inform her of a betrothal to Lucius Malfoy, an image rose unbidden behind her eyes of their lips meeting; his were too elegant and refined, too unlike Ted’s. Another image, more powerful, overtook it; of sitting in a manor day after day, entertaining guests, maintaining appearances.

It all seemed so wrong.

She discreetly slipped her hand into her pocket and wriggled her finger into the silver band.

And it felt so _right_.

She was gone the next morning. 


	5. Dark Lily

_written by angel (winglessflight); pairing: lily evans / regulus black; alternate title: disapproval_   


&&& 

Her friends would disapprove because he was a _younger boy._

James would disapprove because he was into the Dark Arts, and he was Sirius' brother.

Severus would disapprove because she'd date one Death Eater but never the other.

So she didn't tell them.

Not about the lithe, dark Seeker, streaming across the sky in her mind hours after landing. Not about the moments hiding in the shadows, waiting for unfriendly Slytherins to finish changing.

She didn't tell them about the thoughts, the _thoughts_ as she waited for him to finish in the shower after practise and come to kiss her and kiss her. The self-doubting thoughts, the ones that challenged her ability to wait around forever for a boy who was too young and too troubled to love her. But when he smiled at her (looking over the shoulder, never into the eyes), and let their lips meld into one comfortable embrace she allowed the thoughts to fade. 

Disapproval never killed anyone. 


	6. Dreamcatcher

_written by sara (insanguinare); pairing: parvati patil / lavender brown; alternate title: practice_   


&&&

She sits on the foot of your bed, a Silencing Charm around the curtains, and you both are giggling. Glossy magazines lay scattered across the blankets, open and closed, and she reads aloud from one issue.

“…but the only way to really kiss properly is to become experienced. Just reading about technique won’t perfect your own.”

You snort. “That doesn’t help at all. I need to be good _before_ I kiss the bloke. Otherwise I won’t get the chance to practice, he’ll be gone already.”

“You could always practice on someone else,” she offers innocently.

It’s fuzzy who moves first, but soon you’re tipped back against your pillows, and she’s positioned over you awkwardly, hands and knees crumpling the magazines. Soft, tender brushes of her lips against yours become hungry, desperate motions, and the two of you are trying everything you’ve ever read about, and you aren’t sure anymore what’s pushing you to explore her mouth like that.

Technique or no, it isn’t too bad, kissing your best friend; but as she wipes her mouth carefully after pulling away, she tells you matter-of-factly that now you’re ready. That’s all it was, after all; practice.

The next morning, she sees you snogging Ron, and she only rolls her eyes at Hermione. You can never be sure just what she thinks; you only know that Ron's mouth never seems to satisfy you, no matter how much of it you get. 


	7. Mirror's Edge

_written by angel (winglessflight); pairing: hermione granger / penelope clearwater; alternate title: mantra_

&&&

It only happened once.

When Madame Pomfrey woke you from the Basilisk's sleep, you felt lucky to be alive. In a hushed, worshipful whisper, you heard these sentiments echoed from the next bed.

The girl sitting up had long, drooping curls and pale cheeks. Her lips were cherry red.

She still held the mirror in her hand.

That night, you felt a soft tap on your shoulder. You opened her eyes to a glowing face, a face that had cheated death and still couldn't believe it.

_You told me about the mirrors,_ it murmured. _You saved me._

And you sat up slightly and nodded. And soft hands cupped your face and a cherry mouth muttered _Thank you, thank you, thank you_ , like a crazed mantra to a lover, and then the mantra was softened by her fingers tracing your mouth, and stroking your cheeks and tracing down to your throat and chest and momentarily, daringly, sweeping over your breasts, before returning to stroking your mouth, as if she was scared that to kiss you outright would leave a mark.

_Thank you._

You were never sure if you'd dreamt it. 


	8. Flower and Pierce

_written by sara (insanguinare); pairing: percy weasley / fleur delacour; alternate title: irrational_

&&&

It’s in moments like these that rational thought is dangerous.

Rational thought would scream at him that this is madness. Rational thought would list the reasons why: she’s his brother’s _wife_ , she’s too good for him, he’s too analytical for her impulsiveness, and furtive, stolen kisses with a married woman in a deserted alley could lose him a job if he’s caught.

Instead, instinct is speaking to him – she’s much closer to _his_ age, if she was too good she wouldn’t be here kissing him, opposites are supposed to attract anyways, and bugger what happens with his job, nothing has _ever_ felt this good. Not the satisfaction of climbing the professional ladder, not the knowledge of a good book. Nothing.

No, rational thought would rule against this – against the sheets of blonde hair brushing against his freckled cheeks, against the way she deftly plucked his glasses away, dangling them from her fingers as she kisses him – and so for once, he shuts off his mind and _feels_. 


	9. The Braking Charm

_written by angel (winglessflight); pairing: basil horton / randolph keitch; alternate title: responsible_

_for our darling lu ♥_

&&&

When they finally finish the charm, they celebrate their success with a bottle of champagne.

Or two.

Or five.

The next morning, among crumpled sheets and misplaced glasses, neither is willing to be held responsible. 


	10. Liason of the Lestranges

_written by sara (insanguinare);_ _pairing: bellatrix lestrange / rabastan lestrange; alternate title: tool_  


&&& 

She controlled both of the Lestranges.

When her betrothal to Rodolphus was announced, she nodded at the good tidings and only thought of going to her Lord later that night. He was pleased with the firm influence the marriage would give him over yet another prominent pureblood.

But he needed another.

It was ironic that she loved her Lord, but her physical affair was not with him; it was _for_ him. As she shared her bed with both of the Lestrange brothers, she learned the imperceptible differences in their strikingly alike features; she saw the softness of the younger that contrasted her rough husband. She did not love either. Her body was another tool of her Lord’s, winning two men to her side, and therefore, to his service.

In this way, she gave both her mind and her body to the one she loved, using them both in his name, rather than succumbing them to his mastery. There were only ever two men to touch her, and neither truly had her, even for a moment. 


	11. The Submarine of Gaunt

_written by angel (winglessflight); pairing: morfin gaunt / merope gaunt; alternate title: meaningless worries_

&&& 

His fingers are like snakes on her skin, like spiders, like scorpions. _Poison._ Seeping into the flesh and into her soul.

It's wrong. It's immoral. It's unnatural.

But these are the thoughts that come on cold, impure later reflection. In the moment there are worse worries to think about: brutal, real, harsh worries.

Like the fact that it hurts, and that when he occasionally captures her lips mid-coitus he bites and leaves bloody marks. Like the fact that he's cold and makes her feel cold, even between the sweaty sheets. Like that sometimes he hits her so hard that the sex is superfluous to his beatings.

Like the fact that he knows no other way to demonstrate his displeasure at her.

Later is the time to worry about her, to think of the tainted blood in her veins, to consider incest and inbreeding and words that mean nothing of the dark, twisted nights.

Now the dance begins.

_Brace yourself._


	12. Gin and Tonic

_written by sara (insanguinare); pairing: ginny weasley / nymphadora tonks; alternate title: rainbow_

_for grimm_sister, inspired by anthony_

&&&

From the beginning, Ginny was fascinated by this young woman who fought with the best, who embodied independence, whose hair flashed through the spectrum in a reflection of her colorful spirit. She wanted to be a part of her, to breathe her in and capture her vibrancy.

She thought that it was mutual.

One night, they sat together as usual, and rather than sharing her Auror mishaps or her routine klutziness, the woman launched into a story about her attraction to Remus. Ginny merely nodded, smiling at all the right parts, realizing that she was only regarded as a younger sister.

That night she stared into the mirror at her hair, and its fire seemed to have faded. She wondered if things would be different if she, too, had a rainbow in her soul. 


	13. Butterbeer

_written by angel (winglessflight); pairing: ron weasley / madam rosmerta; alternate title: education_

&&&

It was inevitable, really, you think sometimes.

He's liked you for years: watched your ample bosoms from the tender age of eleven. They all did, all those poor teenage boys, starved of _real women_. Years ago, you took it upon yourself to teach them.

The occasions were periodic. You'd ask one to remain behind after closing time, a manly task, heavy lifting or a tricky bottle, and, turning down the lights, you'd _educate._

A lesson just as important as any the Professors gave them.

As the tall redhead gazes with astonishment at your naked curves, you reflect on the service you're performing.

Seeing his cheeks redden with this epiphany, you decide that you aren't paid enough. 


	14. Dogs of Slytherin

_written by sara (insanguinare); pairing: pansy parkinson / millicent bulstrode; alternate title: comfort_   


&&& 

You’d never guess by looking at them. 

One was a too-skinny girl with a pinched appearance and a turned up nose. The other was built sturdy, almost burly, and her face was permanently set in an expression of annoyance.

From one you would hear high-pitched giggles and squeals punctuating constant nasty comments about anyone, even her own housemates. From the other, there was only silence, and she seemed to cast darkness over any group.

They did not seem close.

But in the dormitory, during the early hours, the only time when weakness was permitted in Slytherin House, the one would creep over to the other’s bed and curl up beside her, brushing slender fingertips over strong cheekbones and whispering comforting words. For a world at war is difficult for everyone, especially those caught in the tumult.

You’d never guess by looking at them just how much they needed each other. 


	15. Darkness of Night

_written by angel (winglessflight); pairing: tom marvolo riddle / cho chang; alternate title: echo_   


&&& 

I may not have been a person, I may have merely been an echo, a shadow, a whisper of a memory. But even shadows can feel.

The Weasley girl pointed her out to me once, when I gained the strength to join her, only as a memory, to walk the corridors of the castle I knew so well. _That's Cho Chang,_ she'd told me scornfully, far closer to tears than she'd admit. _Everyone knows Harry Potter's got a crush on her._

Which should have been warning enough.

And yet my thoughts lingered on the glint of her coal-black hair. The soft cream of her skin. The pointed corners of her mouth. Of her lips. Lips I wanted to run my fingers over.

A memory, an echo, perhaps, but a sixteen-year-old boy nonetheless.

So that night, summoning every ounce of the Weasley's turmoil, every nightmare she twitched and wept through, I made my way to her dormitory.

I stroked her pointed lips, feeling the smooth curves beneath my fingers. 

But when I leaned in to kiss her, I found myself falling, falling, falling.

Back to another girl's mind.

Not to be. 


	16. Bulgarian Flame

_written by sara (insanguinare); pairing: ginny weasley / viktor krum; alternate title: comparison_   


&&& 

Summer is ending, and she is sitting in front of the Burrow staring into nowhere when he arrives, the last person she would have expected to see.

“Hello...” she says slowly. “Who are you looking for?”

“I vanted to talk to you,” he says gruffly. “I saw you at the vedding. You looked very beautiful.”

She blushes, and he sits next to her on the grass. He looks rather awkward for a world-famous Seeker, she thinks, and subconsciously compares him to her nimble, quick Harry for a moment, before remembering that Harry isn’t hers at all.

Over the months, he will write her, and come to see her, and kind words will be exchanged, and kisses will be stolen. She will slowly forget Harry’s touch as she becomes accustomed to another.

Through it all, though, she will never be able to stop comparing them in her mind, and when she finally has some time alone with Harry after the war’s end, she remembers what she was missing. 


	17. Beneath the Moonlight

_written by angel (winglessflight); pairing: remus lupin / narcissa black; alternate title: flavour_   


&&& 

It wasn't anything to worry about. She was sure of that.

It was just for the nights when Lucius couldn't come to the castle to see her. For the nights when her bed was cold, and she was alone. For the moments when ice-cold Lucius was just not what her tongue desired.

For the moments, and sadly regular they were, when she wanted to taste salt, and blood, and a hint of teeth.

For the moments when she wanted to taste the spice of his throat, when her palate wasn't ready for the clinical freshness of her betrothed.

She was always a picky eater. 


	18. Hot Throbbing Suburbanites

_written by sara (insanguinare); pairing: arabella figg / petunia dursley; alternate title: link_

_i realize that in light of the chapter title, this may be difficult to take seriously_

&&&

They had _almost_ nothing in common.

In the beginning, she had been repulsed by her neighbor’s eccentric behavior, disordered house, and inordinate love of cats – which were _despicable_ creatures in the opinion of any sane person. To keep up appearances, though, and to maintain the possibility of getting rid of _her sister’s brat_ as often as possible, she continued her visits.

After growing up around _that freak_ , though, she knew enough to pick up the poorly-concealed signs, and she was torn between disgust and an ache in her heart that she had tried, for years, to ignore. The confrontation came soon enough, and the truth was uncovered, and it wasn’t quite what she had expected.

And there was a link.

The occasional afternoon tea then became weekly, then daily, and over the years, an acquaintanceship turned into friendship – into more. Everything still grated on her – the mess, the oddities, the damn _animals_. But their bond kept her coming back, to share her heart with the one person who understood what it felt like to _hate_ the world you longed to be a part of. 


	19. Muggle and Muggle

_written by angel (winglessflight); pairing: tom riddle sr / cecilia; alternate title: ease_   


&&& 

You'd been so _happy_ : the two of you, beautiful gifts and chaste smiles and carriage rides at dusk, and it had been so wonderfully _easy_.

Then your father had bought you a white horse and the two of you had gone riding through the woods, and you'd stopped at the lakeside and he'd lent over the head of his stallion and kissed you, deep and passionate, hands tangled in your hair and eyes closed, face so close you could feel his eyelashes curl onto your cheek. 

He'd reached into his saddlebag and brought out a ring, perfect and round, diamond; engagement. Saying yes was the easiest thing you ever did.

The next day it was all 'round the village that 'that Tom Riddle' had run off with the strange girl from the Gaunt house.

Engagement ring still shining on your finger, you returned to the lake. You never reemerged from its depths.

It was just easier, this way. 


	20. With the Quaffle

_written by sara (insanguinare); pairing: angelina johnson / lee jordan; alternate title: replacement_

&&&

She comes around the shop to find something to fill the gaping hole that’s been left since the war’s end. There’s George – who looks _heartbreakingly_ like him – and they nod to each other, for they both know the other has lost.

Behind him, intent on a piece of parchment, she is surprised to see chocolate skin and twisted dreadlocks where another freckled red-head brother would be. She looks at George. “Ron?...”

“Ron’s starting Auror training,” he finishes with a hint of pride, and his new partner looks up, breaking into a smile when he recognizes his old schoolmate.

They go out for coffee, and he is exactly what she was looking for: a distraction from this ache for what she’s lost. They go out again the next week, and the next, and the next, until she moves into his flat and her life begins to have order again.

Late at night, though, when she brushes her fingertips across her damp pillow and gazes at his still form, she desperately tries to convince herself that he’s not just a replacement for Fred.

Not _really_. 


	21. Dragon Fire

_written by angel (winglessflight); pairing: charlie weasley / ginny weasley; alternate title: notice_

&&&

Six years. He was away for six long years, without seeing her, or hearing from her. Sometimes he wondered if, when he finally found his way home, she'd remember she'd ever had a second brother.

When he arrived home, she wasn't there. She was out, they said, had gone across the village to see Luna Lovegood. _Who was Luna Lovegood? There was so much of her life he'd never known._

When she came in that evening, skin glistening from a short fall of rain, her eyes weren't fixated on her long-lost brother, but on the bespectacled boy with the lightening scar who, he hated to admit, he recognised better than she.

Because she'd _changed_ , damnit.

And in all the wrong ways.

And he resolutely _wasn't noticing_.

Wasn't noticing that her sweater was a v-neck and _fuck_ it was too revealing. Wasn't noticing that she was _tall_ and her legs were _long_. Wasn't noticing that her hair was a deep, rich red.

Wasn't noticing how amazing it would look spilled across a pillow.

Because, for all her womanliness, she was still his _sister_.

Except that something inside was screaming that she wasn't, not really, because sisters are warm and soft and familiar and she was exotic and sexy and so unfamiliar.

But he still _wasn't noticing_ how her lips crushed his and her tongue swiped across. He _wasn't noticing_ how she whimpered when he hissed _Sister_ into her ear.

He wasn't noticing that red, red hair, spilled like virgin blood across his pillow.

He couldn't even see. 


	22. Moaning Malfoys

_written by sara (insanguinare); pairing: moaning myrtle / draco malfoy; alternate title: substantial_   


&&& 

After dying, she found that she liked to watch them.

To others, it sounded so _wrong_ , like she was perverted, but that wasn’t it at all. They were just so _alive_ , muscles twisting under their skin as they moved, chests rising and falling as they breathed. They were so solid, so substantial, so _there_.

And she _wasn’t_.

She knew she could never be anything to these boys, these living boys. How could she be? Any touch would pass right through her

But still, she dreamed, and she watched.

Then one day he stumbled into her bathroom, and he was just so _lost_ , and she remembered pushing through that same door over fifty years earlier with tears streaming down her own face.

She comforted him, and he didn't scorn her like the others; he came back again, and again, and again. Not only to hide, but to talk, to share. And she found that even if she couldn’t touch with her fingers, she could touch with her voice. Her words soothed him.

They were so _substantial_.

When she watched over him as he slept, it was not the longing gaze she gave the other boys who happened upon her. There was no envy of his beating heart, his flowing blood. There was only protectiveness, and satisfaction in the knowledge that, to him, she was _there_. 


	23. Flames and Fiery

_written by angel (winglessflight); pairing: hestia jones / emmeline vance; alternate title: acceptance_   


&&& 

They'd been at school together, Ravenclaws together, first years and seventh years together.

And Hestia couldn't remember her looking her way before now.

Now they'd both been _chosen_ by Dumbledore, now that she'd proved her worth. Now Emmeline would talk to her, and smile with her, and curve her body into hers.

Seven years of staring, and wishing, and wanting. Seven years of not being good enough.

And sometimes now, as the lips softened into her own in the night-dark bedstead, she wondered if this was acceptance. Forgiveness, even.

And she wondered why she should have been forced to wait. She thought she should stop it: break this chain of guilt until innocence proven.

But the intoxicating mouth and inebriating breath. Those were real, and here, and constant: they needed no thinking, no considering, no soul-searching. They were now and soft and hot and breathless.

Don't think about it, she ordered herself sternly. 


	24. Flowers in Bloom

_written by sara (insanguinare); pairing: lily evans / petunia evans; alternate title: teach me_   


&&& 

She trailed behind her sister when she was younger, always asking for help. _Teach me to make a crown of daisies, Tuney. Teach me to make a cake. Teach me to fly on the swings._  


And her sister always turned and taught her with a smile on her face.

When she was torn away, taken to another world, she could hardly bear the gaping hole in her heart, and she missed the girl who had taught her how to smile, how to laugh, how to live. Her sister was someone else now, eons apart, with no time for her; nothing left to teach.

As the years passed, each problem she encountered would lead to staring forlornly at a piece of parchment, the beginnings of a letter asking for advice: _Dear Tuney_ … and never anything more.

When she comes home before her sixth and seventh year, she manages to corner her, and Tuney snaps.

“What do you want?”

So many answers hover on the tip of her tongue. She wants everything to be the same again, she wants her sister; by this point, with all the longing, she isn’t quite sure _how_ she wants her. She just knows that she needs Tuney back.

But she doesn’t say any of this. Instead:

_Tuney, there’s this boy, James… Tuney, teach me._

And she does. 


	25. Horny Harpy

_written by angel (winglessflight); pairing: horace slughorn / gwenog jones; alternate title: seventeen-year-old_   


&&& 

His first year teaching, fresh from training, wide-eyed for young talent. And she was ripping the sky to shreds with a second-hand broomstick and a seventeen-year-old joy.

Seventeen-year-old joy sparkling in bright, electric blue, seventeen-year-old eyes.

Remedial Potions suddenly seemed paramount.

And while her seventeen-year-old heart remained intact, her seventeen-year-old ego greatly bostered, she left him for bigger and better things.

He dropped her name a lot: it was a name worth serious money.

And every time, without fail, he saw those seventeen-year-old eyes staring into his, mocking an old man who fell in love.

Crystallized pineapple was never quite as sweet. 


	26. Clever Broomstick

_written by sara (insanguinare); pairing: hermione granger / cedric diggory; alternate title: something_   


&&& 

There was just something about Quidditch players, that was all.

Of course, the others just wouldn't have worked. Harry was too much of a suffering hero, and she came to see him as a brother. Viktor was too awkward, and too overpowering. And Ron… Ron could never see past her books and her frizzy hair to her soul, to the fact that she had needs, too.

He, on the other hand, was perfect.

Quiet, charming, tan, muscled. Always smiling. Always reassuring. Never patronizing, never arguing, never pressuring. Best of all, discreet.

He was what all the others should have been.

So she indulged. 

Years later, when Ron discovered her secret, he demanded indignantly, _why him?_

Of course she couldn’t tell him all she longed to say: that he was every part the mature gentleman, in a time when Ron was a sulking boy. That he’d been really, truly perfect.

So instead she offered an excuse, vague enough to pacify, ambiguous enough to shift attention to him instead.

_There’s just something about Quidditch players._


	27. Guilty Pleasures

_written by angel (winglessflight); pairing: sirius black / draco malfoy; alternate title: rebellion_

&&&

The hair falls silk-soft and white-blond: sultry. The eyes filled with mysteries. The thin lips with their twist of fear.

A glimpse of him, that fateful night with the Shack and the rat and the guilt and innocence, and Sirius wasn't sure he'd ever get him out of his head.

And he didn't even know about the poster of him _Have you seen this man?_ that Draco kept hidden by his bed.

_Dear Draco..._

_Dear Sirius..._

And a thousand letters suffered angry _Incendio_ charms.

When Harry talked about school with pride, Sirius couldn't always help feeling scornful: it was so _tame_ compared to his schooldays with Remus and James and...he didn't think any further.

Draco, of the torturous family and sneer and smirk and snarl. 

When he fell through the veil, he thought of one boy.

When Draco wept that night, he thought of one word.

_Rebellion._

&&&

_note: at the moment, angel is on vacation in sicily and sara is working frantically on college applications; our apologies for the slow in updates. after a week or so, we should regain our steady rate. we are working on adding the requested pairings to our queue, and we thank you for your feedback! continue to enjoy :)_


	28. Doppelganger

_written by sara (insanguinare); pairing: fred weasley / george weasley / parvati patil / padma patil; alternate title: interchangeable_   


&&& 

He _knew_ that the girls could tell them apart.

No one understood twins like another set of twins. They were attuned to small differences, the nuances that made each one distinct. He could tell the girls apart, and so could Fred – Padma’s smile hitched one side of her lips higher than the other, Parvati had a more confident air.

He _knew_ that Padma would never mistake Fred for him, yet the nights were often when Parvati ended up in his bed instead, and his mind would slip to his girl with his brother for a moment before she captured his focus. It was so different, so strange, being with Parvati; the sisters weren’t interchangeable, they were two separate people.

The question was whether they just didn’t care which brother they ended up with.

But that was breaking the _rules._ Twins were just supposed to _understand_ other twins; to realize that even if they had one face, there were two souls hiding beneath the mirror images.

&&&

_note: for our first group pairing, it actually came out rather well, y/n?_   



	29. Unimaginable Love

_written by angel (winglessflight); pairing: harry potter / pansy parkinson; alternate title: hero_

&&&

The hero's meant to be the righteous one.

The hero's meant to fight for what is good, and pure, and worthy.

The hero's meant to be strong, and deeply, intrinsically, good.

He was the hero. He knew he was. He had been told.

Then why _(why)_ did he see her laughing? Why did her sultry smile stain his soul?

Why was she so appealing, hanging off the arm of the enemy? What lay behind thin lips and an expanse of hair he could just imagine stroking? What was it about Pansy Parkinson that just drove him wild?

_Oh, but she is a pretty thing, delicate and so, so unattainable..._

Why did he want her, _need her_ , and why _(God, why)_ couldn't she have the common decency to want him too?

Why, when he was the hero, would she never play the damsel in distress? Why would she merely toss her hair and laugh, and call him _half-blood_ and run her fingers and lips across Draco Malfoy's cheeks?

_Fairytale?_


	30. Tenera Per Validus

_written by angel (winglessflight); pairing: ron weasley / gabrielle delacour ; alternate title: today_

_note: this takes place post-DH but pre-DHE; ron is around 20, and gabrielle is 16 or so_

&&& 

She'd seen him watching her sister, watching the waterfall of silver tossed over Fleur's shoulders, heard him stumble over his words to her.

And she'd known it had been inevitable.

It was a trade, really, one part-Veela is as good as the next. She was a substitute, used by a young man whose lust was stronger than his morality.

And yet she let him stroke her silver sheet and gaze into her sea-blue eyes. She let him murmer Fleur into her skin, and she let him think she didn't notice.

She let him, because in return he let her watch his red hair dance around his freckled face, he let her kiss his pillowy lips and watch his cornflower eyes.

He'd never give her forever.

So she took today. 


	31. Nearly Headless

_written by sara (insanguinare); pairing: nearly headless nick / bathilda bagshot; alternate title: understand_   


&&& 

It was bloody impossible to find someone who understood what it felt like to be excluded for circumstances out of your control, and so he waited for _centuries_ , alone, enduring with dignity the insults and jokes from the living and the dead.

Then he saw her one day, drifting through the castle. Rebuilding had finished, and another school year was about to commence, and for the first time, the light spirits that had come upon the Wizarding world in its victory passed on to him as well. Her story had made its way to Hogwarts long before, and he had wondered if there would be yet another soul who wandered the earth as a nearly-headless imprint.

It was clear to him at once that she would speed away without a thought when he first spoke to her _(and, of course, that was exactly what she did)_ , but that was not the important thing. There were centuries upon centuries in which he could speak to her; he had time. The important thing, really, was that there was someone who could understand. 


	32. Gorging on Olives

_written by sara (insanguinare); pairing: george weasley / oliver wood; alternate title: separate_   


&&& 

Everyone’s always seen you as a unit – it’s _Fred-and-George_ who plays the pranks, who swings the bats, who lightens the mood. One soul, one entity, one face. Two names blended into one.

You don’t know why, but it’s not the same with him. When he became captain, he gave separate orders; when he spoke to you in the common room, he held separate conversations. It’s _George_ to whom he shouts as he points to the other end of the pitch. It’s _George_ to whom he speaks to get attention before launching into a rant about Merlin-knows-what.

It’s _George_ to whom he whispers late at night in the changing rooms as he presses you against the wall, and it’s hearing your name that gets you the most, whether it’s in moments like these or ones as innocent as a greeting in the hallway.

That was always the best part, after all; being _one_ person with him, rather than half of a whole, and knowing that he saw you as who you were on your own, rather than who you were as a pair. 


	33. Charming Paranoia

_written by angel (winglessflight); pairing: alastor "mad-eye" moody / lily evans; alternate title: funny_   


&&& 

It was funny, really it was, how it had turned out. Not funny-ha-ha, more funny-bullet-in-the-brain.

_Tonight, darling, tonight we'll tell them._ And she'd giggle, toss her fire-red hair and wind him back around her little finger. But when tonight came, _it's not a good time_ or _James' had a hard week - can we leave it?_. Funny-bullet-in-the-brain that he, of the _constant vigilance_ had let himself be so taken in by a woman.

_Tonight, my love, after Halloween's eve, I'll tell him, I promise, we'll be together._

Not so funny-ha-ha. 


	34. Toads and Pigtails

_written by sara (insanguinare); pairing: neville longbottom / hannah abbott; alternate title: real_

_*does the canon dance*_

&&& 

She walked out the door and the last thing he saw was a flash of bright golden hair, locks he could hold in his hand and stroke like spun sunlight.

Over months he received letters which told him of grand adventures, interesting creatures, and eventually, a young man who actually understood the lure of the natural world. The true meaning was written between the lines: _you stayed behind,_ and _you never believed in them,_ and _he's far better for me._

He understood they had differences, and each followed their own path, but yet he couldn't help but hurt. Instead of dwell upon it, he threw himself into his work, and loved his students, and loved his plants. They were real, unlike the imaginary creatures she had urged him to seek, and the imaginary girl she had turned out to be.

Then one day a shock of blonde hair wandered into his greenhouse, and for a moment, he thought it was her -- no, it was not the bright gold he had known, but a darker shade; less ethereal, more normal. She walked up to him and cheerfully asked if he needed any help with the Mandrakes, and he smiled at her, seeing a young woman who seemed to be _real_. 


	35. Seeker's Keeper

_written by angel (winglessflight); pairing: oliver wood / cho chang; alternate title: gentleman_

&&&

'This is no time to be a gentleman, Harry, knock her off her broom if you have to!'

Mmm, yes, Oliver Wood, you can knock me off my broom whenever you want. Yeah, _just_ like that, that glare when you look at me. I'm beating your Seeker, see? Even with a Firebolt, I'm beating him.

Yes, that's right, watch me tail your Seeker, that's right, hate me because I'm winning and you're not. I love your competitiveness. Fight for me, Wood, and fight with me. Run your nails down my back, yeah, those nails, the ones gripping your broomstick with anger because I cut Harry off again. Claw at me, rip me to pieces, bite me, _mark me_. Take me.

Don't be a gentleman. 


	36. More Than Looks

_written by sara (insanguinare); pairing: fleur delcaour / nymphadora tonks; alternate title: matched_   


&&& 

Tonks hated her – she was too helpless, too beautiful, too _manipulative_. She used her perfection to bend people to her will, and wore a smile through it all, and no one ever suspected.

Fleur hated her – she was too rough, too dark, too _hateful_. She used her exterior as a shield, and scornfully judged the world from behind it, and no one ever suspected.

Two women who hated each other – they were too haughty, too stubborn, too _different_. Yet somehow they met late at night, and their words were harsh, and their kisses were rough, and their sex was angry, and they fought for dominance, surprising each other in how perfectly matched they were. Again, and again, and again, never besting one another, always even, until they were coming back for other reasons than just to win.

And no one ever suspected. 


	37. Enthroned in Death

_written by angel (winglessflight); pairing: lily evans / bellatrix lestrange_   


&&& 

On the other side of the Veil, on the other side of the world, on the other side of the universe, ill-fated lovers met.

And the redhead smiled shyly at the new arrival who looked into her eyes with all the intensity with which she'd killed her cousin. She pressed the other woman into the wall _(into the veil, the sky, eternity)_ and killed her with a kiss, enthroned her in the death of her body and the reawakening of her soul.

And behind her eyes, the redhead saw glitter and stardust and God, entombed, enshrined in a love and a lust that she'd forgotten how to feel. The serenity of death was replaced by a rushing of sensation and she whispered into her partner's mouth that _this, this, this is living._


	38. Purple Gryffin

_written by sara (insanguinare); pairing: michael corner / ginny weasley; alternate title: he was_   


&&& 

He was preachy, and self-righteous, and a know-it-all. He grated on her nerves when he criticized her family, or joked about Harry, or generally behaved as though none could do better than he _(though her family and Harry_ could _do better than he, and they often did, to her poorly-hidden amusement)_.

He was touchy, and defensive, and too easily provoked. He shouted far too much when he was frustrated, or angry, or she did something to set him off _(which she did quite often, having quite a mind of her own and enjoying pushing his buttons perhaps_ too _much)_.

He was childish, and rude, and altogether immature. He didn't hide it as he stared unabashedly at other girls, and he laughed too loud and too long at dirty jokes with his friends while she tried to keep from rolling her eyes _(but most of the time, she just didn’t bother trying, because honestly, they were so ridiculous)._

He was irritating, and overbearing, and just not right for her. But he was also quite good-looking, and so for the time being, she stayed with him until something else better came along _(because, after all, a teenage girl’s got to be a teenage girl, at least for a little while)_. 


	39. Parchment and Predictions

_written by angel (winglessflight); pairing: lavender brown / percy weasley; alternate title: why_   


&&& 

They'd danced at the Yule Ball, somehow, she was never sure why. She wasn't sure who he was, either, or who'd initiated, or how she'd ended up outside, concealed by fountains in the grounds, kissing him well into tomorrow.

She just didn't ask why.

Why would she?

And two year later she was wrapped around his brother, kissing him harder and harder and deeper and deeper trying to find the elusive taste, trying to reach it on the tip of her tongue, not wanting to know why she couldn't find it. She wouldn't ask why she couldn't find it.

She wouldn't ask why, when Ron finally gave her up, she saw him in her dreams.

She wouldn't ask why, when he married Penelope Clearwater, she saw him in her nightmares. 


	40. Hawk and Vulture

_written by sara (insanguinare); pairing: rolanda hooch / irma pince; alternate title: soar_   


&&& 

She’d always been a woman with little tolerance: for the slow, for the deceptive, for the cautious. Life was about being rough and alive and real and bright. It was about soaring through the air and feeling the wind rush past you. She didn’t understand others who didn’t share her love of motion and color.

They’d been in the same year, but never spoken; the quiet Ravenclaw bookworm had no place in the life of a Gryffindor who never touched the ground. Sharp looks had been exchanged, as the two girls who were so different scorned one another.

Adult life was different, though. Both came to work at Hogwarts, in their comfort zone once more, but now, they learned moderation, temperance, and they slowly grew on each other. She found herself spending time in the library occasionally, and came to treasure the spare moment of silence and calm, and of escape into other worlds through pages.

On the other hand, she finally brought the bookworm into the air, and regardless of the protests, the panicked shrieks, and the oath to never touch a broomstick again, she knew that she _had_ to love it, somewhere deep inside. 


	41. Bruised Romance

_written by sara (insanguinare); pairing: bane / firenze; alternate title: choice_   


&&& 

I seem like the brute. I seem like the mistaken one, the cruel one. His chest bears my hoof print. My words ring in his ears.

There’s more than one side to every story, though, and he cut me deeper with his choices than I could ever cut with my words.

When he chose the humans, it was a deeper choice than action over inaction or good over evil; it was another race over his own. It was the wizards above the centaurs. It was the intangible above the comfortable. It was Harry Potter over me.

No one can expect me to forgive him for that. Our connection was broken long before he ever left the herd. 


	42. Shakespearian Tragedy

_written by angel (winglessflight); pairing: dorcas meadowes / regulus black; alternate title: echo_   


&&& 

'That's Dorcas Meadowes, Voldemort killed her personally.' 

Mad-Eye's face clouded and he looked around, sure that Sirius hadn't heard. Just the face in the photograph, streaming hair and frank smile, conjured a thousand memories.

They were like echoes, flickers, hardly discernable one from the other. The girl, the young woman, blonde and blue-eyed, smiling, playing Quidditch, fighting, laughing, serious at Order meetings, drunk at the Potter's wedding.

But in so many was her shadow, her other half, her own echo - tall and straight, solidly thin with dark looks and a smile just for her.

_Playing Quidditch..._

_Fighting..._

_Laughing..._

_Screaming..._

No more handsome shadow. No more dark-haired echo.

_Voldemort killed her personally, you know._


	43. Cunningly Loyal

_written by angel (winglessflight); pairing: blaise zabini / susan bones; alternate title: eleven teenage fairytales_

_merry christmas, everyone, from angel and sara!_   


&&&

A week and a half, it lasted. 

Eleven days, twenty three kisses, one girl's purity, innocence _(bloodless innocence)_ and a handful of tears.

Eleven days, two fifteen-year-old hearts and one fairytale she wrote in her mind.

Eleven days of heaven.

Or so she fancifully thought.

Truly, of course, it was a fairytale that went as all these fairytales go. With the initial clash of eyelines, the chaste yet frantic passion of a first kiss, the darkened broom cupboards, one, single set of sweaty sheets, a few words as he told her that Slytherin's snake mattered more to him than she.

Eleven days, eleven tears and a single notch on the bedpost. This is what teenage fairytales are made of. 


	44. Black Cat

_written by sara (insanguinare); pairing: minerva mcgonagall / sybill trelawney; alternate title: damned sherry_   


&&& 

If it were not for the woman’s damned sherry, it never would have happened.

However, these things happen in difficult times. A war, and a whisper, and one woman finds herself knocking at the doors of another’s quarters, seeking nothing more than comfort. It is a precious commodity, comfort, and something that is difficult to give at times, and so rather than searching for the appropriate words, the open, half-empty bottle of sherry is offered.

Never in a million years would she have accepted it, tightly-strung as she is, yet tonight, she takes the bottle.

When she wakes in the morning, it takes four seconds for her to realize where she is, and less time to throw on her robes and leave the room, making for her office.

The next day, Sybill doesn’t even remember.  



	45. Falcon and Lioness

_written by angel (winglessflight); pairing: alice longbottom / rodolphus lestrange; alternate title: healing_   


&&&

It was something about his curved frown, the peach of his bruised lip, the dull shine of a blackened eye that made her walk over to him in the library.

'Do you want to talk about it?'

Silence.

'I'm Alice.'

Silence.

'I know Healing Charms.'

Silence. 

'Who did this to you?'

Silence. 

He kissed her.

She Healed his wounds. 

And the next day he looked right through her. She was, after all, just a Gryffindor. 


	46. Heroic Mothers

_written by sara (insanguinare); pairing: lily evans / alice longbottom; alternate title: share_   


&&& 

At Hogwarts, they shared everything. First it was just a dormitory, but it progressed slowly over the years. Quills and inkpots. Laughter and secrets.

Kisses and exploration.

Now they’re both married, but they still share everything. Pregnancy tips and good recipes. Stories about hopeless men. Smiles in dark times. 

One thing, though, each woman wishes not to share; in hiding through the months of fear and cradling their babies, they remember the prophecy and worry for one another, hoping the other might escape their fate, afraid of sharing their doom.

In the end, they need not have been concerned, for fate found them both. 


	47. Rose Bush

_written by angel (winglessflight); pairing: roger davies / fleur delacour; alternate title: light and dark_   


&&&

She was light. There was no other way of putting it.

Like the sun, like the stars, like the moon. She glowed, she glimmered, she glittered, she shone. Like light, she was.

Of course once he'd robbed her of her sparkle and shine, she was still just a girl.

Just a girl with dark eyes and ruffled hair. Just a girl with red cheeks and heavy breathing. Just a girl, licking something away from the corner of her mouth, fiddling with her bra strap and asking him if her makeup was smeared. Once she'd darkened from her gleam she was just a girl standing with her legs still slightly spread and her lips still slightly swollen and his handprint still visible on her breast.

Now she was darkness, dirt and hidden, secret movements in the night. 


	48. Black Sisterhood

_written by sara (insanguinare); pairing: andromeda tonks / narcissa malfoy / bellatrix lestrange; alternate title: three  
_

&&&

No love was like theirs, when they were young. Bellatrix was the one with the passion, and Andromeda was the one with the ideas, and Narcissa was the one with the sense to rein them in occasionally. No man could force them apart; they didn't need men when they had each other.

Then Andromeda met Ted, and Narcissa's calm voice turned to ice and silence, and when Bellatrix raged "how could you choose a Mudblood over your family?" she really meant _how could you choose a man over us?_

She left, and the bond was broken; Narcissa and Bellatrix didn't bother to pick up the loose ends. Narcissa was bethrothed to Lucius Malfoy, and the continuation of a pureblood legacy. Bellatrix was married to Rodolphus Lestrange, and the pursuit of the right ideals.

Andromeda loved Ted, and only Ted. 

Three women, who were once three sisters, now with three separate lives. 

One past, dominated by one love, broken by one earth-shattering choice. 


	49. Playing the Field

_written by angel (winglessflight); pairing: terry boot / padma patil; alternate title: playing the field_   


&&& 

_It's time you got out there, man. Time you got some **action**_.

_You need to try something new, babe. You need to play the **field.**_

She sat, awkward. He slouched, dazed, as Madame Puddifoot poured them tea and flapped over them.

'Isn't it nice,' as she looked out the window at the snowball fights and he glanced fearfully at a floating cherub, 'that you two have finally found each other?'

She'd never drunk weak tea so quickly.

_Look, Terry._

_Padma, look._

An awkward laugh, and no unwanted action on the playing field. 


	50. River Deep, Mountain High

_written by sara (insanguinare); pairing: rubeus hagrid / olympe maxime; alternate title: like him_   


&&& 

It wasn't just the fact of what she was. That would be ridiculously superficial, and though the pickings were slim, Hagrid was not like that at all.

It wasn't just her, either, because of course she wasn't perfect. Every person has little quirks, and though some of them could be endearing, some could also be perfectly infuriating.

No, Hagrid's reasons for ardor were a combination of each. He looked at Olympe, and he saw the giantess, but he also saw the woman. From the first day, he was astonished that someone _like him_ (a halfbreed, a _monster_ ) could be lovely, cultured, interesting. She showed him potential in a world of prejudice. She showed him hope.

For that, really, he loved her. 


	51. Fiery Bonbon

_written by angel (winglessflight); pairing: dudley dursley / ginny weasley; alternate title: maybe tomorrow_

_note: this is sws' **fiftieth drabble!** yeah, we're thinking wtf, too :)_ _thanks for your support and reviews! \\\o/_  


&&&

Twenty years too late, you finally replied to the letter. It had arrived on your doorstep with a snowy owl the day after the Prime Minister had announced _a new age is dawning for Britain_. Twenty years later, you wrote your reply.

And now you are at a house you'd never have visited, in a place you'd never have come to, with a purpose you'd never have attained if it hadn't been for him.

The door opens and it's an unforgettably beautiful woman who you're sure you've seen in photographs as your aunt. And behind her are three children, laughing, and behind them is he.

Time to face up to the past, time to reach for the future.

But maybe not today, you think. Because right now all you can bear to do is gaze upon the red-haired vision of loveliness and wish she was yours.

And not his.

So maybe, you think, you won't stop hating him today.

But soon. Soon you'll let go of the past. Soon you'll reach for the future.

Once you get her out of your head. 


	52. Black Vanity

_written by sara (insanguinare); pairing: regulus black / narcissa black; alternate title: somewhere_

&&&

There’s a reason they’ve always gotten on so well, he thinks. So many similarities between them, so many excuses to gravitate towards each other at dinner parties and family events.

Somewhere they got lost in the whirl of passionate and headstrong older siblings, and found each other. Somewhere they identified with each other in the midst of striving to uphold the family legacy and make their parents proud. Somewhere they learned to turn to only one place for comfort, for love.

Somewhere they discovered a tradition which is usually kept hushed up by the Noble and Most Ancient House.

There’s a reason they don’t look forward, and that’s because he knows how this story will end. In their futures lie betrothals and heirs and the upholding of their name. This story’s ending was decided long ago.

Somewhere in the middle, though, they’re still writing it.

&&& 

_note: guys, we love you, and all of that, but this collection has over seventeen thousand hits and only 85 reviews... we are not impressed, not impressed at all; where is our love?_   



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